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National Assembly Should Be Part Of Treasury Single Account, Accountant General Insists

February 5, 2016

Nigeria’s Accountant-General, Ahmed Idris, has urged the leadership of the National Assembly to incorporate the legislature’s account into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. 

Mr. Idris made the case for the National Assembly’s participation in the TSA when he hosted members of the Senate committee on Public Accounts who visited the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF). The legislative committee is charged with ensuring accountability, transparency and best practices in the management of Nigeria’s public finances. 

A statement released by Kenechukwu N. Offie, a media spokesman at the OAGF, disclosed that Mr. Idris briefed the legislators on the challenges facing the country’s Treasury House, specifying agencies that had failed to comply with the rules and guidelines of the TSA. The accountant general then appealed to the members of the legislative committee to pass laws that would penalize those who violate the government’s financial reforms and policies, adding that such laws would promote wider compliance and enforcement. 

Mr. Offie’s statement disclosed that Mr. Idris also pointed out the need for his office to receive adequate funding in the 2016 budget and called for the resuscitation of foreign missions that are meant to generate finances for the government.

Mr. Idris stated that the Treasury House was committed to the success of the government’s reform policies, adding that the OAGF had employed a quality control assurance manager to enable it to rise to its mandate. He added that the agency was alert to the activities of hackers.

Outlining the achievements of the Treasury House in the seven months since his appointment to head it, Mr. Idris commended the corporate social responsibility exhibited by some Nigerian banks. He stated his agency’s achievements as including the acquisition of six new buses for staff movement, a brand new carport, the establishment of a crèche for staff members’ babies to ease stress on parents during office hours, and a clinic able to cater to 12 in-patients and well-equipped. 

The chairman of the senatorial committee, Andy Uba, stated that the Public Accounts Committee had oversight functions over the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), adding that the committee members were stakeholders in the struggle to fight corruption. 

Topics
Corruption